Poi Hurts!!

ive been playing with the staff and double staff for about 3 months and I just started on poi yesterday. I must say poi hurts a lot more then staff! ive got brusies everywhere, ive been hit in the face 1,000,000 times, and winded myself by an unfortunate hit in between the legs - still i can see an addiction forming!!
Has anybody got any funny/ painful injurys stories to share? It might inspire me to perserve and learn this bloody 3 beat weave backwards
Peace,
Tom

Something that I read here on HoP was

"if you haven't hit yourself in the balls for a while then your not learning"

I of course have hit myself and I know first hand of the man pain that poi can inflict.

Other than that you can exspect a multitude of minor burns, brands and bruises.

On a more amusing note I have set myself on fire 3 times
1 the inside of my jacket (I was drunk)
2 my bandanna (I was also drunk)
3 my beard (Fire Breathing accident with a new fuel, while drunk)

The lesson that I have learn't is that I should be more carefull while intoxicated.

Luckily I escaped all 3 incidents with no real harm and while I do laugh about it nowadays I did take a serious fire warning from it and now I excersize due caution.

Yeah, getting hit in the balls.. damn.. fell down to my knees way to many times

what poi are you using?

hmm drink twirling is a hobby of mine... more deadly than i thought....
im using the glow poi at least untill my rope poi rocks up in the post!!

rope poi are different coz they are rope and not a 'solid' object so rather than a dull ache you'll get a sharp sting kinda like a whip.

Iv hit myself in the face hard enough to draw blood twice now. And only last week whilst spining into a btb hyperloop i hit myself in the left kneecap hard enought to pop it out.
Mind you i do kinda have a dodgy knee that seems to like to pop periodicly anyway.

i keep hitting my nose ¬_¬

I keep hitting my glasses, and I already went to the optrician twice to get them fixed :P

do it slower

um..

Step 1: Remove glasses
Step 2: spin!

;-)

Glowies are friggin LETHAL things. Sure, I split my eyebrow and all sorts. Go slower, concentrate on PLANES not SPEED and you will rarely get hit.

But the hit in the balls thing I simply do not understand. In 6 years or so spinnying poi I have never ever not even once hit myself in the fanny. What the hell are people doing to get them going upwards between the legs? Or are these extra endowed people, hung like bulls as they say?
*boasting prompt*

Meh, it happens is all. Depending on the move, I have noticed that bean bags in a butterfly tend to just drop when they collide. And considering that that is usually right in front of you....

Otherwise I would imagine poor plane control is a prime factor.

Love can hurt too - you stop loving for that reason?

I have been spinning for about 3 months now! Yes these things do hurt, I have accumulated many bruises and even a bloody nose! I think learning to Box was easier! But it is all worth it when you learn it! I had a hard time learning the Reverse 3 beat weave as well! I got a little tid bit from a friend and it helped wonderfully! He told me while you are doing the Forward just turn your body around 180 degrees. It really worked! I think that poi spinning is for massacists! You have to like pain to continue and love pain to become a great spinner!

Smooches
RU?

Why Should I be afraid of dragons? Sure they are big and can breathe fire... But so can I!

Poi hurt sure, But what I tell everyone I teach is:

Bruises mean you learned something. You learned you are doing something wrong, even if slightly. So thank all you bruises for helping you find the right way spin. Without them you'd still be an audience member.

Gotta tell ya though, this is just my opinion, but I find Staff (especially contact) to be more painful than poi. Sure I got hit in the balls many a time and had bruised calves, arms, chest etc with poi, but those don't usually hurt for long. Whack the tip or your finger or bruise the back of your hand, hit yourself in the head (especially if wearing glasses) with a heavy contact staff and be in pain for a couple days.... thats worse. I've hurt myself more with staff than I ever did with Poi.

Its a rite of passage. Gotta nail yurself in the nuts at least twice before each advancement. It forces you to let go eventually and stop worrying about it. The more you practice, the more effortless it becomes. (But you'll still nail yurself in the nuts on occasion).

im sure guys tend to hit themselfs in the crotch more often than women. it could be due to a few reasons

1. the guys are just crap
2.the guys complain more so people take more notice (rightly so)
3.there is a small amount of extra gravity and a larger target due to our huge cahonas making collision more likely

hehe. altho i agree your probably not learning anything if you arnt getting any bruises.

best screw up iv seen is when a good mate was first learning poi. he managed to hit himself in the nuts so hard he went in to the fetal position befor hitting the floor. witch some how moved his head in to the fireing line of the second poi. i feel bad about giving him my monkey fists to try so it hurt so much more

Well, I did chucks and 3-section staff (and rope-dart, but only in a sparring context) before I ever picked up my first poi, so I'm a long familiar with the esteemed art of cudgeling your own head! I haven't been spinning poi long enough to earn any real war stories, but I did manage to dislocate my shoulder with an immensely heavy set of nunchaku - these were battle-grade sticks, 14" cocobolo each, and waay heavier than the usual fare. 'Nother time I decided to get fancy and spin one set of chucks alongside my brother's cheap spiked flail... Then I forgot which hand held the crazy ball of spikes... Shortly after I decided to give my right shoulder medical leave.

But I agree with everybody that pain is nature's way of teaching you to be careful!

Yeah, it hurts. I kind of enjoy assembling the list of injuries and burns, it's something people ask about (morbid curiosity) and it makes you look like a rockstar to say offhandedly, Yeah, I caught myself on fire the other night... burned x-body-part.
In my experience, I caught my chest on fire during a performance (hooray flaming boobies!), cracked myself squarely on the top of my head, and gave myself pretty sweet little crescent-shaped scars on the inside of my upper arms from doing arm wraps without sleeves on.